Money Saving Mom®

Fill your home with the delicious scent of freshly made artisan bread with just a few minutes of hands-on time and some pantry staples! Everyone will rave about this incredibly easy artisan bread recipe! (Check out all of our other homemade bread recipes, too!)

Ridiculously Easy Artisan Bread (Just 4 Ingredients!)

This bread is literally so easy that you’ll feel like you’re cheating. But it is SO good and it looks so impressive that people will never believe it only has 4 ingredients (one of them is water!!) and took you a cumulative effort of about five minutes to put together!

I got the idea to make this from my sister-in-law. She had us over a few years ago and served a similar bread and I loved it so much and she told me it was Easy Overnight Artisan Bread.

I was instantly sure that I would probably ruin it. You see, I’ve tried multiple recipes that have “Artisan” in them and they’ve never turned out great.

I had convinced myself that me and Artisan just don’t cooperate! But, inspired by my sourdough bread success, I decided to get brave and try again!

Why You’ll Love This 4 Ingredient Artisan Bread

I was in Kansas staying at my family’s house and was itching to bake bread but didn’t have my sourdough starter. I remembered the yummy Overnight Artisan Bread my sister-in-law had served us and decided to just try googling to see if I could find a similar recipe.

I landed on this one and promptly made it. It was so good and my extended family — who ate it for Sunday lunch — loved it, too. In fact, the whole loaf didn’t even make it through lunch!

After I got back home to Tennessee, I tried to make it again. Sadly, it didn’t turn out as well. I ended up making it multiple times to figure out what worked and what didn’t. After multiple attempts and different versions, I think the recipe below is truly fail-proof.

I hope you love it and that it becomes a favorite at your house, too!

Ingredients for Dutch Oven Bread Recipe

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees — not hot, just warm)

How to Make Overnight Artisan Bread

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt.

2. Add warm water and stir until blended (with your hands, wooden spoon, or Danish dough whisk). The dough should be sticky and loose, and you want it to be mixed together fully.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for around 12 hours.

4. After 12 hours, preheat your oven to 450ºF and put an empty 6-to-8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot in the oven while it preheats.

5. Lightly flour a work surface and gently fold the dough over a few times (using flour sparingly and only if it’s too sticky to handle).

6. Shape into a round ball and place on a piece of parchment paper. Cover and let rest for another 30 minutes.

7. After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, use a sharp knife to cut an X on the top of the loaf.

8. Pull the pot out of the oven and place the dough ball (still on the parchment paper) straight into the pot and place the lid on top.

9. Bake (covered) at 450º for 35 minutes.

10. Remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes until the loaf is golden brown.

11. Remove the parchment paper (with bread) from the pot and place it on a cooling rack.

12. Serve with a generous amount of butter and honey

Tips for Making Bread in Dutch Oven

There are so many variables when making bread — sometimes you just need to try, try, and try again before you get it “just right”.

However, here are a few tips to steer you in the right direction:

• Make sure your yeast is still active (you can proof it with warm water to make sure it bubbles)
• Use high-quality, high-protein flour.
• Let the dough rise long enough — don’t rush it.
• Make sure your oven and Dutch oven are both VERY hot (and that your oven is at the correct temperature).
• Let the bread rest for a bit before cutting into it (this is the hardest part!)

How to Store Four Ingredient Artisan Bread

Always store homemade bread at room temperature or in the freezer (never in the fridge as it will dry it out).

Also, make sure your bread is completely cooled before storing in a tightly sealed food storage container — otherwise the moisture could cause the bread crust to get soggy.

Store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want to store it longer than that, freezing is the best way to retain freshness.

If you plan to freeze your bread, it’s a good idea to slice it first so you can pull out however many slices you’d like to reheat.

Dutch Oven Bread Recipe FAQs

Recipe

Four Ingredient Artisan Bread

Author Crystal Paine

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Resting Time 12 hours hours

Servings 1 loaf

Print

Pin

Share

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 cups flour all-purpose
• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water about 110 degrees — not hot, just warm

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt.
• Add warm water and stir until blended (with your hands, wooden spoon, or dough whisk). The dough should be sticky and loose.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for around 12 hours.
• After 12 hours, preheat your oven to 450ºF and put an empty 6-to-8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot in the oven while it preheats.
• Lightly flour a work surface and gently fold the dough over a few times (using flour sparingly and only if it’s too sticky to handle).
• Shape into a round ball and place on a piece of parchment paper. Cover and let rest for another 30 minutes.
• After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, use a sharp knife to cut an X on the top of the loaf.
• Pull the pot out of the oven and place the dough ball (still on the parchment paper) straight into the pot and place the lid on top.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 35 minutes.
• Remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes until the loaf is golden brown.
• Remove the parchment paper (with bread) from the pot and place it on a cooling rack.
• Serve with a generous amount of butter and honey

Notes

Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 114kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.05g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

Love this recipe?

Make sure to share and save it on your favorite platform below!

Pin Recipe Share Recipe Share by Email

FREE One Week Menu Plan!

Done-For-You Dinner Recipes With Simple Ingredients and a Grocery Shopping List!

Send me my FREE Menu Plan!